site.btaTwo Bulgarians Detained in Joint Bulgarian-Turkish Operation over Migrant Trafficking

Two Bulgarians were detained in a joint operation of Bulgarian and Turkish authorities on May 8, the head of the Criminal Police Department at the National Police Directorate General, Angel Papalezov, told at a briefing here on Wednesday. The information about individuals involved in migrant trafficking from the Turkish to the Serbian border was submitted by the Bulgarian side.

Papalezov said that the two detainees had started importing Bulgarian cars into Turkiye to be used in the trafficking. The arrests took place during another car import.

Over 100 cars have been imported into Turkiye in a year and two months, Papalezov specified. He added that the cars' location is still being established. The damage caused by the import of cars in question is estimated at some BGN 2.5 million.

The two detainees - from the southeastern cities of Sliven and Yambol - have made confessions and are in custody. They both have criminal records.

"We suspect that they were either having the plate numbers reassembled or being cut up and sold in parts. In our country, these cars have been taken off the books and are being kept as scrapped," Papalezov said, noting that this could also mean a documentary crime.

A request for legal assistance from Turkiye is expected so that witnesses can be questioned and forensic tests can be carried out, Papalezov said.

Several Bulgarians were also detained in similar raids at the end of last year, and more than 100 cars were found, it transpired at the briefing.

Since the beginning of the year, 253 illegal migrants have been detained, down by 68% from the same period of 2024.

Turkiye's efforts have contributed significantly to Bulgaria's entry in Schengen, Papalezov said.

Onur Cokol, Commercial Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Sofia, said that there is very good cooperation between the two countries. "We believe that it will continue to develop both in the direction of customs services and internal affairs," he added.